Bird Songs

To whom it may concern,

I had a conversation with a bird today. Not like a verbal conversation but I’m pretty sure we held some steady eye contact for at least twenty seconds. I don’t know birds like that but I feel twenty seconds of eye contact is long even for human time. Anyway, we conversed through our eyes (like you do with someone you love). We chatted, through my kitchen window. This might sound stupid but it was like that bird told me everything was going to be okay. I smiled at the bird, to let it know I knew. Then that little bird flew away, singing a song. Everything is okay, or everything will be okay. It might have gotten lost in translation my bird Latin isn’t as fluent as I had hoped.

Something about birds eases my mind. Their songs. They calm me down and relax me. Birds and crickets, they know what they’re doing. I’d rather focus on the birds for now, maybe I’ll write something else about crickets one day. The bird songs (Like that movie Rio). I feel like when the spring hits, they’re more flirting with other birds than singing to each other. Like I said though, I don’t know birds like that so I’m not certain on this matter. I don’t even know if that bird was looking at me. But still, I’m assured everything is or will be okay.

I think why birds assure me everything is okay is because I relate their songs to really happy memories. 

Like camping with my family;

Getting a lift to school from my dad every morning throughout high school;

Waking up early at my old apartment, sitting on the balcony with a coffee, writing;

Or driving home at 6 am from a friend's house, whom I had just spent the whole day with, talking to and falling in love.

So, thanks to the birds.

I don't ever recall being upset when their songs are chirping. Everything really is okay when you hear a bird, except for all the bird-phobes out there, and anyone who just disagrees with me. For me, it’s a moment of peace, a time you can reflect on the past and the present. If that’s something you like to do. Think. 

This whole winter I didn’t hear any birds. I guess it’s like that every winter, they all go south. But at least I had these memories. I feel like for a long time, winter for me was a season for me to turn off, and go on autopilot. I’ve learned to hold onto things that help me feel better and make me feel less shitty when I need to. I try to look at the good in my life; friends, family, love, food, memories. These, like the birds, remind me everything’s okay, or everything will be okay. Maybe none of this is making any sense to whoever’s reading, but for me it does.

So thank you again, Birds, for all that you do.

Patrick Harwood.